


Hours

by procrastinatingbookworm



Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Lucifer Bingo, Nightmares, Stakeout, people asked for more so now there's more
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-12
Updated: 2019-02-08
Packaged: 2019-10-08 23:12:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17395526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/procrastinatingbookworm/pseuds/procrastinatingbookworm
Summary: Lucifer and Chloe are on stakeout for eight hours. Lucifer isn't doing well.LuciferBingo, for the prompt "falling"





	1. Eight Hours: Chloe

Chloe hated stakeouts.

She hated them with such a fervent passion that she doubted anyone on the force could match her absolute _ire_ when faced with the prospect of sitting in a cramped van for upwards of eight hours, with nothing to do but watch the dashboard clock and wait. She would rather be in a shootout. She would rather be _shot_.

She was right, up until now. No one hated stakeouts as much as her.

No one except Lucifer.

 

It hadn’t even been two hours yet (a hour and fifty six minutes), and Chloe’s partner already looked like he wanted to claw his eyes out.

“This is _Hell_ ,” he said, emphatically. “I would know, I’ve been there, this would fit _right_ in.”

“I said you didn’t have to come,” Chloe grumbled, considering stealing Lucifer’s flask for a sip.

Lucifer gasped in mock affront and pressed a hand to chest. “And leave you alone with the Douche? What kind of partner do you think I am?”

_An annoying one,_ Chloe thought, but she couldn’t risk hurting him this early in the stakeout.

She just gave him her best eye roll and settled back into her seat, watching the building across the street.

 

Lucifer managed another hour (sixty-two minutes exactly) before he started twitching. Chloe tried to ignore him. She’d known he would hate it. She’d known he would fidget and complain and probably do something stupid just to have something to do, and she’d agreed to bring him along anyway. Better than being alone.

It took half an hour (twenty-eight minutes) for Lucifer to stop fidgeting like there were bugs crawling over him, and another hour after that for him still completely. Chloe would have suspected that he was doing it just to annoy her, if she didn’t know how frustrating stakeouts were, even if you weren’t an adrenaline junkie with no impulse control.

 

After almost four hours (and eight minutes) of absolutely nothing happening, Lucifer yawned. 

“Don’t fall asleep, we’re on stakeout.”

Lucifer yawned again, clearly resisting the urge to rub his eyes. “My apologies, Detective.”

“Did you not sleep well last night?”

“Nor the night before,” Lucifer muttered, quietly enough that it seemed like she wasn’t supposed to hear it.

He smiled in her direction. It was almost convincing.

Chloe stared out the window of the stakeout van, settling in. She heard Lucifer unscrew the top of his flask and take a sip. There was a slight clatter as he closed it again; maybe his hand was shaking.

 

It was only sixteen minutes before he fell asleep. Chloe let him rest.

 

Lucifer slept for two hours (and forty seven minutes) before he woke up with a strangled scream. 

Chloe startled out of a daze, her hand going to her gun.

Lucifer was panting, pressed back in his seat, eyes wide. When he met Chloe’s panicked gaze, he looked away, sheepish.

“Just one of those… dreams…” he gasped. “Where you… fall.”

He made a choking sound and forced open the door of the van, scrambling out and sinking to the ground, out of sight.

 

By the time Chloe had clambered out after him, he was on his hands and knees, retching.

The stakeout fled her mind entirely as she knelt beside him, resting a hand on his back, below his scars. 

“I’m sorry,” Lucifer panted. “I just, I…” 

“I know. I know.” She was no stranger to nightmares. Her own, Trixie’s, Dan’s… even Maze had nightmares sometimes. “Breathe, Lucifer, it’s okay.”

 

Lucifer drew in a shaky breath, and _changed_.

 

Everything uncomfortable and upset disappeared from his face. His shoulders relaxed, his spine straightened. She’d seen him do it before; shift from angry to seductive to calm to hurt to terrifying with the ease of a chameleon.

Lucifer sat up, smiling. It didn’t reach his eyes, but it was convincing all the same. He stood, with all the fluidity of a predator, or a dancer, and held open the door of the stakeout van for her.

“Lucifer—” Chloe began, but he shook his head, taking his flask out of his pocket.

“Don’t,” he said, in that same vulnerable tone he’d slipped into when she’d touched his scars. Damn him, he knew she couldn’t defend against that.

“Alright,” she settled, turning to look out the window again.

 

It wasn’t for another twelve minutes that she realized Lucifer was trembling.

She glanced at the clock. “Our shift is almost over. Want me to call it in early?”

Lucifer didn’t answer. She supposed that meant _yes_ . Or maybe _yes, please, I need to get out of here._

She called Dan. “We’re really flagging here, and nothing’s happening? Mind taking over a little early?" 

Rather than being annoyed, as she’d expected, Dan was delighted. “I thought I was going to lose my bet.”

“Your… bet?”

“No one thought the two of you would last the whole time. I bet you’d only fold less than an hour before your shift ended.”

Chloe was too tired to scold him for betting about her. “Is that a yes?”

“We’re on our way.”


	2. Seven Hours: Dan

Lucifer waltzed into the precinct, somehow managing perfect posture and a sprawl reminiscent of a child who's gotten away with something.

Dan gave him a wave from across the precinct, and held back a smile when he jogged over like an obedient dog. “I wasn’t sure you’d be in. You and Chlo had a long shift last night.”

Lucifer glanced around. “Is the Detective not here?”

Dan shook his head. “We get at least a half day of leave after a long stakeout shift.”

Lucifer turned smartly on his heel. “Well, no need for me, then!” He nearly managed to get out of grabbing range, but Dan caught his arm at the last second.

Lucifer turned sharply, startling so badly he almost stumbled against the desk. Dan squeezed his wrist gently, trying to be soothing, then released him.

“Not a chance, buddy. Someone has to help me with this paperwork.”

Lucifer rolled his eyes, adjusting his cuffs in a gesture that would be nervous if he didn’t do it constantly. “Fine. I suppose you can put me to use.”

Nineteen minutes into the paperwork and Lucifer was already flagging. Dan didn’t even have to look at him to see it. Lucifer was practically vibrating, fingers tapping restlessly.

Dan slurped loudly at his nearly-empty coffee mug and made a sound of disappointment. Lucifer sprung out of his chair like he’d been jabbed with a pin and took Dan’s mug from his hand, dashing to the coffee machine to refill it. He didn’t even make a snarky excuse for his willingness to help.

Lucifer came back with a fresh mug and an armful of vending machine snacks. “Thought we should be prepared, if we’re settling in until the Detective comes back.”

Dan opened a bag of chips, took a sip of his coffee, and didn’t even _try_ to hide his smirk.

***

The five-minute vending machine jaunt had been good for Lucifer; he managed to keep relatively still and focused for the next two hours, complaining and making  comments all the while, yes, but helping.

(His arm was settled around Dan’s shoulders, one of his long legs jutting into Dan’s space. Dan considered asking him to move, but Lucifer was warm and unobtrusive, so he didn’t.)

Three hours and twenty-six minutes since he’d walked into the precinct, Lucifer was vibrating again.

Not vibrating. Trembling.

“You okay?”

“Just fine, Daniel.” Lucifer answered, not even looking up. The pen he was holding tapped against the paper over and over, making a tiny galaxy of dots.

Dan almost touched his shoulder, but he remembered how Lucifer had startled when he’d caught his arm, so he held back.

Eight minutes later, Lucifer bolted. Dan let him go, and carefully filled out paperwork until he came back half an hour later, pale-faced but calm.

Two years ago, Dan would have given him shit for it. Now, he just shifted to give Lucifer space to sit down, handing him a pen.

Another fifty minutes, and they moved on from paperwork to organizing, sorting cases. Dan tuned out Lucifer’s suggestions for categories and spent a mindless hour making neat piles of stuffed manila folders.

Lucifer brought him a sandwich from the vending machine. Dan hadn’t even noticed his absence. He nodded thanks and ate it in silence, while Lucifer flicked through the folders, labeling them in his neat cursive.

Chloe walked in almost seven hours exactly after her partner, and Dan watched the tension drop out of Lucifer’s muscles as soon as he saw her. His spine straightened, his shoulders relaxed, his eyes brightened, and the faint smile he’d been pretending to wear reached his eyes.

Dan watched them from a distance. Maybe he should’ve been jealous, but they were both so happy.


	3. Six Hours: That Night's Lover

Jacob got to Lux at nine, but he didn’t get in until half an hour later. After nine minutes of wandering around and sipping at the expensive drink in his hand, the lights went out, except for a spotlight on the piano.

He watched, enraptured, as a stunningly beautiful man—Lucifer Morningstar, the owner of Lux—started to play.

Lucifer didn’t look at the keys. He didn’t look at anything, staring glassy-eyed into the middle distance. The music was beautiful, but all Jacob could see was the emptiness in Lucifer’s eyes.

Jacob had used to think that Lucifer Morningstar was the luckiest man in Los Angeles. He could have anything he wanted; drinks, women (or men, or anyone), expensive suits. He could play the piano, and sing.

But there he was, gazing into space with empty eyes, playing a frantic song that sent his fingers dancing, as if the music was the only thing keeping him from collapsing.

Jacob stood watching him for the half hour that he played, his drink forgotten. He wondered if anyone else noticed; if anyone else enraptured with the performance saw that the suave mask had fallen, and there was a broken man underneath.

Once the set ended, it took Jacob six minutes to work his way through the crowd. He knew Lucifer wouldn’t mind being approached; Jacob had been to the club before, and he’d seen all manner of people in the self proclaimed Devil’s arms.

Lucifer was even more beautiful up close. His hair was perfectly coiffed, except for a curl that had come loose and fallen over his forehead. His jaw was strong, the five o’clock shadow perfectly sculpted to look completely effortless. He was even wearing eyeliner, a line of black that accentuated his deep brown eyes.

Jacob squirmed closer through the throng of people that Lucifer drew to him like flies to honey, reaching up to wrap his arms around his neck.

Jacob felt a little dizzy. Maybe it was the alcohol. God, the man was tall.

Lucifer’s arms settled around Jacob’s shoulders as he leaned down for a kiss.

“Forward, aren’t you?” he purred, and the crowd around them giggled and  _ ooh _ ed. 

Jacob wanted to scream at them.  _ He’s hurting, why don’t you notice? Can’t you hear it in his voice? He’s breaking into pieces, can’t you see? _

Jacob said nothing. He just leaned up and kissed the corner of Lucifer’s mouth.

It all went rather quickly after that, but when Jacob looked at the clock beside Lucifer’s bed, it had been three hours since they’d gone upstairs. Four since Jacob had entered Lux.

“What do you desire?” Lucifer asked, once more. He’d asked before, and Jacob had answered, and Lucifer had complied, satisfying all his deepest desires.

The answer was different this time.

“I want to make you feel better.” Jacob said, and watched Lucifer’s face close off, the happy post-coital smile slipping away behind a mask. “What do  _ you _ desire?”

Lucifer was silent, lips parted slightly. Jacob wondered if anyone had asked him that before.

“I want to be held,” Lucifer decided, after several minutes of silence.

Jacob wrapped his arms around Lucifer and held him close.

 

Two hours later, Jacob woke up alone.


End file.
